Comments on: Why Does Religious Literacy Matter in Secular Families?

By: Mac McCarthy

Mac McCarthy — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:53:13 +0000

I sent my girls to Catholic high school for their safety’s sake, and bec. Catholics (in America) tend to be mellower than other mainstream religions. They are atheists, and I told them “don’t tease the Catholics!” They had to take religion classes. I am happy to say they are atheists to this day.

I think I should write a book called, approximately, “The Secularist’s Guide to Bible Stories,” to summarize these stories, their key memes, how they are used in our society. My wife, raised a complete secularist, never heard any Bible stories and doesn’t know, for example, anything about the story of Noah, Sampson having his hair cut and losing his strength, all those stories. It would let secularists and their kids understand cultural references from this influential book without the religious mumbo-jumbo and propaganda. What do you all think?

By: rodiel

rodiel — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:51 +0000

Reasons against:
- danger of memetic infection
The child might even use religion as an escape from reality when parental torture happens (and it always does – how many of you were not forced to do housework or were not punished for a “misbehaviour” or disobedience?), or as a coping strategy with other problems (e.g. school problems); memetic infection attacks when the person is emotionally vulnerable.

- confusion over reality
The child might ask the question, “how come that i’m told this or that myth is false, but whatever my science teacher tells me is true?” and may develop a paranoid distrust against anything told by adults. (Which is a good thing from the individual’s perspective but leads to conflicts with society later.)

This doesn’t mean we should “shelter” kids from religion-related information, but that we should be very, very cautious with this.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:35:20 +0000

I teach Religious Studies in a university and I think classes on World Religions should be mandatory in high schools. A bit about basic beliefs and practices and some of their history. Religion has been a major part of the human experience ever since there were humans, and to ignore it is unrealistic.

Here in Alberta, the government just passed a bill that makes pulling one’s kids from school classes that deal with sex, sexuality or religion a primary human right. I think secularists should not be afraid of religion, nor should we expect that kids should be insulated from hearing about religions other than their parents’.

I also think that kids (at least in upper grades) should be taught to draw parallels between religious rituals and myths and secular or political ones. People think through stories and affirm group identity, belonging and values through rituals, be they religious or secular.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:51:17 +0000

do I show them in the order I saw them? Start with 4 and end with 3? Start at 1?

OK, we’re definitely getting off-topic here, but as I read somewhere else which I’m now shamelessly plagiarizing, here is the proper order to show the Star Wars episodes in:

By: Ken Karp

Ken Karp — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:20:07 +0000

Dale gives great Parenting Beyond Belief seminars. He will be coming to northern New Jersey in October. Check out his website.

By: AxeGrrl

AxeGrrl — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:34:42 +0000

mathyoo wrote:

avoiding teaching children about religion is just like avoiding teaching them about sex. Eventually they’re going to be curious, and if their only source of knowledge is from their peers, they’re going to end up in trouble.

so simple…..and so true

By: ME

ME — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:28:29 +0000

It was not until I read the Bible that I felt comfortable in rejecting it. I realized how the various Christian religions emphasize some parts and underemphasize others. For example there is very little about hell and damnation in the New Testament but a lot about false prophets. And Jesus’ words, far from ranting and raving that people are going to hell, instead say that if you forget everything I taught, just remember to love God and your fellow man. Reading the Bible innoculated me from believing it, because I can basically refute any manipulation or deliberate misinterpretation of it. I am not a believer but it is an important book, and should be read and understood on one’s own terms. Read it with your own mind, make your own interpretation of it as you would any other book. Ignorance is not bliss as Carl Sagan said, it is deadly. Innoculate yourself with knowledge.

By: mathyoo

mathyoo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:16:49 +0000

avoiding teaching children about religion is just like avoiding teaching them about sex. Eventually they’re going to be curious, and if their only source of knowledge is from their peers, they’re going to end up in trouble. Not only is teaching children about religion important to give them cultural references, but it armors them against proselytizing. Teach your children about all the major religions, as well as about “dead” religions like those of the Greeks, Romans and Norse, and use that opportunity to weave in critical thinking lessons. They may choose religion later in life, but at least they’ll be able to do with their eyes open.

By: Hemant Mehta

Hemant Mehta — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:52:15 +0000

Hemant, months ago I saw a video of Jains who underwent a ritual of pulling their hair out of their heads. I was going to send the video and joke…”so this is why you left Jainism”.

Hehe — Yeah, no “normal” Jains do this. Some devout people do. It has something to do with Jains not wanting any tools like scissors/trimmers because those are objects of vanity. No one I’ve ever known adheres to that.

By: Buffy

Buffy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:25:25 +0000

If I had kids I’d make sure they had a basic knowledge of all the major, and some of the minor, religions. That way they’d be armed when the proselytizers came knocking and not be so likely to fall prey to them. There’s a reason people simply look at Greek and Roman mythology as mythology–because it’s taught as such and not as “truth”. Teach religion in the same way and children will grow up seeing it as just more mythology.